Safety ski poles provided with grips

ABSTRACT

Profiled grips of a pair of ski poles have recesses for the embracing fingers and an elevation for supporting the palm of the band. Said recesses and said elevation are so shaped that one ski pole grip conforms to the left-hand, the ski pole grip conforms to the right-hand and the inside surfaces of the ski pole grips are smooth.

United States Patent Inventor Franz Xaver Bruckl Krottenkopfstrasse 50,81 16 Eschenlohe, Germany Appl. No. 751,957 Filed Aug. 12, 1968 PatentedApr. 27, 1971 Priority Aug. 17, 1967 Germany P 15 78 728.7

SAFETY SKI POLES PROVIDED WITH GRIPS 3 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

U.S. 280/11.37 Int. Cl A63c 11/22 Field of Search 280/11.37

(BI-I), 11.37 (B), 11.37 (BC), 11.37 (A), 11.37 (EB); Des. 34/14.l, 14.4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Des. 9 5 /12 .wq lw--..--20/ r-2 1u v2 3,085,814 4/1963 Scott ....280/ll.37(B1-l) 3,290,04912/1966 McDonald..... ....280/1 1.37(BH) 3,436,090 4/1969 Lange et al..280/1 l.37(BH) FOREIGN PATENTS 429,535 7/1967 Switzerland 280/1 1.37K

Primary Examiner-Leo Friaglia Assistant Examiner-Milton L. SmithAtt0rney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT: Profiled grips of apair of ski poles have recesses for the embracing fingers and anelevation for supporting the palm of the band. Said recesses and saidelevation are so shaped that one ski pole grip conforms to theleft-hand, the ski pole grip conforms to the right-hand and the insidesurfaces of the ski pole grips are smooth.

PATENTEB APR 27 1971 saw 3 0F 4 PATEmmPRznn saw u or 4 Fig. 11

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SAFETY SKI POLES PROVIDED WITH GRIPS This invention relates to safetyski poles having specially designed grips.

Various proposals have been made for fastening elements which areprovided at the grips of ski poles and serve to join the two ski polesof a pair of such poles. Examples of such fastening elements are smallbelts, which can be fastened by buckles or sharp fasteners and aresecured to one ski pole and laid around both ski pole tubes, as well aspushbuttonlike holding means which are secured to the handles of the skisticks themselves. The known fastening elements of the firstmentionedtype have the disadvantage that the buckles or snap fasteners providedto fasten the belts are generally so dimensioned that they can beactuated only when the mittens have been taken off. This is obviously adisadvantage. The snap fastenerlike holders which are secured to thegrips of the ski sticks have been attached only subsequently andprotrude so that they are considered inconvenient in the use of such skipoles. There was thus a requirement for a functionally reliable devicefor joining the two poles of a pair of ski poles adjacent to the grip,which device is free of the abovementioned disadvantage.

The problem discussed hereinbefore is closely related to the shape ofthe grip of the ski poles. Presently known ski poles normally have gripswhich consist in part of leather and are secured to the tube by a seam.The grips have normally an oval cross section or are additionallyprovided with a bead on their forward face. Ski pole grips have alsobeen disclosed which are made of rubber or plastics material and whichare formed preferably on the forward face with recesses which serve toreceive the fingers, to which they anatomically conform in a reasonabledegree so that the user can firmly grasp the grip of the ski pole. Inthese known designs, the grip has a crowned intermediate portion andupper and lower limiting elevations, which form stops for the hand andalso promote a slipfree control of the ski pole.

The presently known grips of ski poles are usually designed so that theyhave equally proportioned, symmetrical shapes on both sides in crosssection. As a result, the desired object to make an anatomically correctgrip available to the user so as to ensure an optimum use of the skipole is accomplished only with great restrictions because a symmetricalstandardized grip shape for use with the left-hand and the right-handwill not exactly fit either the left-hand or the right-hand. No ski polegrips have been disclosed before which are free of the abovedisadvantages.

The invention provides ski pole grips which have an anatomicallycorrect, properly fitting shape and are provided with fastening elementswhich serve to join the two ski poles of a pair of such poles and arefree of the disadvantages of the known means for this purpose.

.The ski pole handles according to the invention are designed so thatone ski pole grip has a shape which conforms to the left-hand whereasthe other grip conforms to the right hand. Each ski pole grip issymmetrical in itself. These grips are provided in the forward face withrecesses for the fingers and on the side remote from the user they arecrowned and shaped to fit the anatomy of the hand whereas the side whichfaces the user and which is contacted in use by those fingers of theuser which embrace the ski pole handle is substantially flat. Thisenables a grasping of the ski pole in conformity with the anatomy of thehand. On the other hand, this asymmetric design of the ski polesaccording to the invention, specifically the provision of smooth insidesurfaces, which may only have a shallow groove to improve the support ofthe fingers, enables the provision of a snap fastenerlike detent elementon these inside surfaces. This detent element is made or mountedsimultaneously with the making or shaping of the grips according to theinvention; these grips are made from a suitable plastics material,preferably by injection molding. This fact enables a simple and fastmanufacture of the handles according to the invention, which arecorrectly shaped anatomically and have a detent element for connectingthe grips of a pair of ski poles.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be explained more fullywith reference to the drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a side elevationshowing an embodiment of the ski pole grip and a comolded snapfastenerlike fastening element.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation showing the right-hand ski pole grip in oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing a left-hand ski pole according to theinvention.

FIG. 4 is an end view showing a left-hand ski pole handle having arecess for the snap fastener of the right-hand grip.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of both ski pole handles which are shownfitted together with a ski pole tube broken.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the left-hand skipole grip.

FIG. 7 to 11 are sectional views taken on the lines indicated in FIG. 6.

FIG. I is a side elevation showing an embodiment of the right-hand skipole grip 19. FIG. 2 is an end view showing the same grip and clearlyindicating the asymmetrical shape at 14 and the snap fastener 15.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the left-hand ski pole grip 14. Theasymmetrical shape at 16 and the female 17 which mates the snap fastener15 are clearly apparent from FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a left-hand ski pole handle 19 with an interengaging snapfastener male 15 and the mating female 17.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the left-hand ski pole handle 19.FIGS. 7 to 11 are cross-sectional views of the embodiment of the skipole handle shown in FIG. 6. These cross-sectional views furtherillustrate the design of the ski pole grip according to the invention.

The beadlike asymmetrical design of the ski pole handle 19 isparticularly effective in the middle of the palm of the hand and clearlyapparent from FIGS. 9 and 10. It is also apparent from FIGS. 7 to 11that the inside of the ski pole handle according to the invention issubstantially smooth except for the projecting snap fastener.

The ski pole handles according to the invention have proved particularlydesirable in ski poles which have snowheads in which in a pair of skipoles one snowhead has a bore and the other snowhead has an elongatedaperture, the diameter of the bore and the inside width of the aperturematching the diameter of the ski pole tube adjacent to the snowhead.Such snowheads are described more fully in the patent application filedby the applicant on the same day Ser. No 751,956 and entitled Safety SkiPoles Provided With Snowheads. The combination of the above-mentionedsnowheads with the ski pole handles according to the invention, whichcan be connected in pairs by the detent device which is provided,enables a reliably joining of the two ski poles of a pair of such polesbecause the two ski poles are held together at their grips by theabove-mentioned snap fastener and adjacent to the snowheads by thespecial snowheads. The desired connection adjacent to the snowheads isestablished in that one ski pole tube is pushed into the through bore ofthe snowhead of the other ski pole whereas the elongated aperturereceives the ski pole tube which is provided with the snowhead having athrough bore. Ski poles of the kind described hereinbefore are alsowithin the scope of the present invention.

Besides, the ski pole grips according to the invention may be used withall ski pole tubes. Their use will result in any case in the advantagethat the ski poles may be reliably interconnected at the grips and thisconnection can easily be eliminated even by a skier who wears mittens.

Iclaim:

l. A pair of ski poles having profiled grips, each grip having recessesfor the embracing fingers and an elevation for supporting the palm ofthe hand and said recesses and said elevation being so shapedthat oneski pole grip conforms to the left hand and the other ski pole gripconforms to the right hand, the inside surfaces of the ski pole gripsbeing substantially vertical planar surfaces whereby said planarsurfaces may be placed adjacent each other for storage and transport ofthe ski poles 2. Ski poles according to claim 1, wherein cooperatingdetent devices are provided on the inside planar of the grips (l8, 19)of a pair of ski poles and integral with the corresponding ski polehandle.

3. Ski poles according to claim 2, wherein one ski pole han-

1. A pair of ski poles having profiled grips, each grip having recessesfor the embracing fingers and an elevation for supporting the palm ofthe hand and said recesses and said elevation being so shaped that oneski pole grip conforms to the left hand and the other ski pole gripconforms to the right hand, the inside surfaces of the ski pole gripsbeing substantially vertical planar surfaces whereby said planarsurfaces may be placed adjacent each other for storage and transport ofthe ski poles
 2. Ski poles according to claim 1, wherein cooperatingdetent devices are provided on the inside planar of the grips (18, 19)of a pair of ski poles and integral with the corresponding ski polehandle.
 3. Ski poles according to claim 2, wherein one ski pole handle(19) comprises a snap fastener (15) and the other snap fastener handle(18) comprises a mating opening, flush into the planar surface of thegrip, (17) into which the snap fastener can be forced.